OK, alright already, I get it…
by Wallace Wyss –
It wasn’t until I recently saw a finely kept up ’66 Olds Toronado that I figured out what Jaguar is doing with those block-long flat painted luxury concepts (Jaguar Type 00). I see that they are harkening back to when luxury cars were built to accommodate the hoi polloi.
The Toronado looked grand. Maybe not as good if there was a crowd of smaller cars around it but it looked majestic by itself. And then there’s the color. I just read a museum catalog about a car show in the St. Louis Art Museum where they combined 16 classic cars and some prewar Parisian art and fashion.
The thesis of the catalog, also published as a stand-alone book, was that when cars first came out in quantity in the 1920s, some Paris artists and fashion shapers thought, “Hey we can make these our own, we can personalize these things” and then they were off to a furious competition that ended in ’39 with the advent of WWII.
So what has happened here, y’see, in the modern day world, is that some car companies, like Tesla now and Jaguar to come, are saying “cars are objects d’art” – they deserve some customization and individualistic modifications. You want your car in flat pink? No problem! I can see owners of these cars ordering almost what you would call “bespoke” (but sold to more than one client) even changing their garments to match the car on special occasions, which happened in concours in pre-war Paris.
Jaguar Type 00
I still don’t like the flip-up-and-forward doos but that can be remedied before production. I’m regretful I hammered on the concept originally but now I understand Jaguar is creating a new luxury breed, albeit with an old respected name, one that will be responsive to their customer’s artistic tastes.
In other words, they can order custom touches to suit them, not as Detroit did for years with their attitude of “Here’s how we make ’em, take it or leave it.”
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR Wallace Wyss is a fine artist specializing in depicting classic cars in oil. For a list of work already finished write photojournaistpro@gmail.com
In its purest form, good taste simply represents a general consensus at any given moment of what is esteemed and acceptable, while ‘bad taste’ is everything that is not. It’s more subjective than objective.
Some people will pay big bucks for a banana taped to a blank canvas if it impresses those they are trying to emulate.
You can substitute “art” for “automobiles” and it reads the same.
Personally, a ’50s Scaglietti Ferrari, a Gull Wing Merc and a 550A Spider would fill my heart with joy just as my ’64 Morgan Plus 4 does and that’s the kind of Art/Auto that my taste covers–at least in my garage.
You have a different taste that encompass you, great, embrace it and bless you.
If the new Jag is what you desire to quench your passion, buy it and much success to you and Jag. I wish you both well.
If someone gave me that Jag, I wouldn’t be caught dead in it but, hey, that’s just me.
Does it come in green? Asking for a friend. -Kato